Left Unsaid
by heystella
Summary: [MK] I’m not sorry for being Kaitou Kid. Because of that, I can’t be sorry for deceiving you. KaitoAoko.


Left Unsaid  
A Kaito/Aoko oneshot  
By Kaiyrah

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Aoko was speechless. It was certainly something that she had suspected, but she never believed it to be true. Kaito – her best friend Kuroba Kaito – and the famous jewel thief who always made her dad look like an idiot, the man who she considered her greatest enemy, Kaitou Kid – they were one in the same.

Kaito sat at her windowsill in his white suit, the top hat and monocle clutched in his hands. Rather than a tired phantom thief, he just looked… like a young boy. His poker face was up, but it was different – he didn't fake a smile or grin like he usually did. Instead his face was wiped completely free of emotion.

On the other hand, she was brimming with emotions, and it was evident. Anger, disbelief, shock, hurt. "You deceived me." A statement, not a question.

He sighed and nodded. "Yes. Yes I did, Aoko."

"You deceived me, and you've even got the nerve to admit to it and… and I don't even get an apology?" Horror crossed her face. That's not what she wanted to say, that's not what she intended to say – she clamped a hand over her mouth, unable to trust her own words.

"I'm not sorry for being Kaitou Kid," he began, lifting his eyes to hers. "Because of that, I can't be sorry for deceiving you. I knew what I was getting into once I put the suit on for the first time. I was aware of what I was doing, in every aspect."

"But… why?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

"Kuroba Toichi." That was all he said at first, and it spoke volumes. "He was the greatest magician in the world," Kaito spoke, and his eyes glassed over, looking strangely distant. "He was my father. And he was Kaitou Kid."

Aoko bit her lip. It made sense now. How her father had been chasing Kaitou Kid since he was twenty years old – how Kid had disappeared for a small time, and how he had made his reappearance.

"Some shady men were after the gem called Pandora. It's a gem that shines with scarlet under the moonlight," Kaito explained. "And if a person can find it, it's supposed to grant immortality to the user. If I can find Pandora, maybe I can lure out the guys who killed my father. Then, I'll be able to avenge him." His eyes darkened. "But until then, I can't quit being Kaitou Kid."

She gulped and stood to approach him. "Kaito, I'm –"

He shook his head and offered her a small smile – not that great wide grin she was used to. A small, genuine – almost tragic smile. The real Kaito. "It's okay. If it's worth anything, I'm sorry I couldn't be the person you wanted me to be. And I'm sorry for not being able to give you an apology for deceiving you."

She shook her head fervently. "No, that's not –"

Then a flash of white, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone from her sight, leaving her to ruminate on what he had told her.

He didn't appear in school at all after that.

----------

And she didn't have anyone but herself to thank for that. After her father had come home that night, she mindlessly blabbed out everything Kaito had told her – but as a man full of energy, Nakamori-keibu only listened to the first part – the part about Kaito being Kaitou Kid – before rushing out of the house.

As she was finished with her story, she hadn't noticed the tears streaming down her face. "Kaito, I'm sorry."

----------

After two weeks of absence, two weeks of activity without Kid, two weeks of missed phone calls and Aoko leaving messages, Kid appeared on a Saturday night at the top of Tokyo Tower. "I have Pandora," he had said, and it echoed loudly over the crowd.

The whole ordeal was faster than lightning – he was talking to the crowd, he turned – there was a man, the jewel thief Snake behind him, a gun – gunshot. Kaitou Kid fell down the tower like the speeding bullet that hit him. He fell near the Tokyo Prince Hotel. Aoko's voice was stuck in her throat, and she watched him wide-eyed as he plunged to his death. She half-expected him to release his hang glider and pull some miraculous escape like he always did – but that didn't happen this time.

They never found his body.

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"Doesn't it bother you, Meimi-san?" Aoko asked imploringly, her eyes cast down to her cup of coffee, where her distorted reflection stared back up at her.

"It's true; I don't appreciate the unsettled feeling that I have right now concerning my son," Meimi began, placing a plate of cake in front of Aoko. "But this is the path he chose. As his mother, I will support him. And even if that path eventually leads to death…" She sighed. "Kaito is quite stubborn. Even if I were to lecture him on this, he wouldn't listen."

The teenager took a sip from her coffee. "But still… They never found him. For all we know, he could be alive and living somewhere well, or he could be dead. I just want to know what happened to him."

Meimi shook her head. "My son's alright, I know it."

"He's alive?" Aoko asked, all her attention on Meimi. "You know something about it, Meimi-san? Is he alive?"

"He could be alive or dead, but he'd still be alright," Kaito's mother commented. Upon glancing at the table, she noticed her mistake. "Oops. One setting too many."

----------

The teachers had settled with the story that Kaito had transferred schools and classes resumed as normal.

But Aoko didn't buy it. She knew what had happened, but she was still in the dark as to the exact outcome. But she wanted to know, she wanted to know badly… But she had no means of finding out.

"Judging by your expression, I'd say you don't know what happened to Kuroba-kun either," Akako mused out loud as she meandered up to Aoko's desk.

The inspector's daughter shook her head. "I have no clue. And I have no leads either." She glanced up at Akako. "How long…?"

"A while now," Akako admitted with a soft smile. "A little after I first transferred here. But I didn't tell anyone. I couldn't tell anyone. Most especially, I couldn't tell you, Nakamori-san."

Aoko slammed a fist down to the desk. "But why?"

"He hated being Kid," Akako explained. "Because that meant hiding the truth from you. But it was something he had to do, for the sake of Kuroba Toichi."

"But I still don't understand," Aoko said, looking down at her desk, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Why didn't he just tell me straight off the bat? If only he had done that, I wouldn't have minded so much."

Akako shook her head and smiled. "You don't quite understand yet, Nakamori-san, do you?"

Aoko's eyebrows drew together.

"He loved you."

_He loved you._

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Around two years had passed before she saw him again. It was a rainy, humid June afternoon, just a few days before his birthday, actually.

It was atSensoji templein Asakusa. She'd wanted to pick up an omamori and some rice crackers. After she'd paid for the amulet, she spotted him out of the corner of her eye. That brown hair, that cocky grin, those blue eyes and the glint of mischief that they contained. There was no mistake. He stood in front of the incense pot, and he was chuckling as he wafted the smoke over himself. And he was talking...

Relief washed over her, bringing streams of tears down her cheeks. Without another thought, she ran to him as quickly as she could. She had to reach him, she just had to –

"Kaito!"

He glanced at her, alarmed.

Aoko threw her arms around him upon contact and kept an iron-like grip. Her cheek was sheltered in his shoulder, her tears staining his shirt. "Kaito... Kaito you came back. You're alive! I'm so glad..."

"W-What..."

She looked up at him without releasing her grip. "What happened? Why didn't you try to contact me? Two years, Kaito! Two years I thought you were dead, but you're alive! No phone calls, no letters? What happened?" In all honesty, she didn't really care that he hadn't contacted her. All that mattered now was that he was alive, and he was here, and she had found him –

"Pardon me, Miss," he spoke. "Let me go."

Aoko ignored the fact that Kaito's voice was a bit smoother; a bit more formal. "What... what are you talking about, Kaito? I... You finally show up after two years, and you just expect me to just sit around and watch you disappear again? No. No, I can't do that. I won't do that. That's not what friends do!"

"I'm sorry, Miss," he repeated with a firmer voice. "You've mistaken me for someone else."

Aoko's face fell. "No, please don't play these kinds of games. Even though you've been gone for a while, don't think I'm not used to your antics anymore, Kaito..."

The boy sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss. There's not much more I can say. I'm not the person you're looking for. I've never even met you before." Then he turned to his companion, who Aoko hadn't even noticed until that point. Aoko noted that the girl looked very similar to herself. "Come on, Ran."

_I'm not the person you're looking for. _

Was that true? Was he really not Kaito? That couldn't be... Maybe by some odd chance, Kaito had lost his memory?

"W-Wait!"

He turned to her, frowning. "I'm sorry for your loss, Miss. But I'm not the person you want."

"Do you do magic?" She had to ask.

The boy raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me?"

"Do you do magic?" Aoko repeated.

He shook his head in reply and turned away again.

No, he couldn't leave -- she had to stop him -- "Do you hate fish?"

The boy stopped and sighed again before turning to Aoko. "No. I don't hate fish; it's one of my favorite foods if it's prepared well. Furthermore, I'm not Kaito, or whoever it is that you're searching for. My name is Shinichi, Kudo Shinichi. I'm a high school detective."

Aoko immediately let him go. Kudo Shinichi. She'd heard that name before... She'd read newspapers a while ago about his return to the investigation of crime scenes, and at the time, she had noted that he looked rather similar to Kaito...

But a high school detective and a thief could never be the same person. "I... I'm terribly sorry."

Shinichi smiled wearily. "It's alright. As long as you understand."

Aoko watched him walk away with his companion. It really wasn't Kaito after all.

He was still gone.

----------

After that day, her imagination had run wild. Ordinary rivers seemed to reflect Kaito's face alongside hers, grinning in that idiotic way of his. The blue skies seemed to abound with clouds that were shaped like him. And in her dreams, also, he would manifest. He appeared to her as both the charming magician that she grew up with and the mysterious Kaitou Kid she discovered to be his alter-ego.

She would dream that he was still with her. She dreamt of the old days, and woke up saddened to find that it was all in her mind.

"Kid or not, I liked you the way you were," she murmured out loud. "Just come back. Don't be sorry, just come back."

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"Aoko! Kasuga-kun's here to pick you up!" Ginzo yelled up the stairs. He turned to face the young man and glared at him. "You'd better not screw this up. My daughter's been through a lot."

Kasuga prickled under the inspector's glare. "Don't worry, Keibu. I'll treat your daughter well."

Just then, Aoko came bounding down the stairs with her purse in hand. "Hi, Kasuga-kun! All ready to go?"

The young boy nodded cheerfully, a grin illuminating his features. Ginzo refrained from commenting that he looked very similar to Kaito-kun.

"Alright. Let's go then," Aoko said with a smile and slipped her shoes on.

"Just a minute," Ginzo stepped between Kasuga and Aoko. "Phone?"

His daughter rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Wallet?"

"Got it."

"Pepper spray?"

"Otou-san!"

"Just checking," the inspector shrugged, and opened the front door. "Have fun, you two."

"Bye-bye, Otou-san!" Aoko waved to him. "I won't be out for long!"

After waving to his daughter, Ginzo shut the front door and resumed his newspaper reading at the kitchen table.

He hadn't yet found the note that Kasuga-kun slipped in his pocket.

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_Nakamori-keibu,_

_From this day forward, the blue child will be mine to take care of._

_- Kaitou Kid._

the end.

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Yay! My first completed Kaito/Aoko fic! I'm so proud of myself. I always convinced myself that I would never be able to write one, but I sure showed myself! Haha.

(1) I'm not sure what the Kuroba Missus' name is, so I named her Meimi after the female thief in St. Tail. Of course, I'm not the first person to do this. )  
(2) Is Ginzo Nakamori-keibu's first name? I'm pretty sure, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong.  
(3) I think the deal with Kasuga-kun is pretty self-explanatory.

As always, I do not own Magic Kaitou or Detective Conan. Thanks for reading!


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